Cambridge looks at redeveloping industrial area near Fresh Pond

Cambridge officials shared part of the city's long-term vision for a large, but largely hidden industrial area near Fresh Pond Monday Night.

City Manager Louis DePasquale and city consultants presented their initial thoughts for the Alewife "quadrangle" area, developed as part of the Envision Cambridge citywide planning project, during a roundtable meeting with the Cambridge City Council in Sullivan Chamber in City Hall on June 5.

The quadrangle is an area roughly bound by Concord Avenue to the south, the commuter rail tracks to the north, Wheeler Street to the east and Spinelli Place to the west. It is largely filled with light industry, but developers have begun to target the neighborhood for housing developments.

Mixed-use industrial district proposed

The preliminary plan presented Monday calls for the creation of a mixed-use district, with “low barrier to entry jobs,” a main street with “active" ground floor shops and a network of bike lanes and pedestrian connections. About 1,080 housing units — 216 of which would be reserved for affordable housing under the city's rules — could ultimately be permitted.

Prior to the roundtable meeting there were eight Alewife working group meetings, three public workshops, and monthly surveys, according to DePasquale.

During those meetings residents expressed concern about how the area will blend with other parts of Cambridge, said Tim Love of the planning and design firm Utile, the main consultants on the project.

“The quadrangle should dovetail seamlessly into Cambridge Highlands and be a good neighbor for Fresh Pond,” Love said.

Good-paying jobs?

Residents also expressed concern for the existing businesses in the area “that are actually very important to the life of Cambridge” such as Iggy’s and Anderson McQuaid, Love said.

“This is one of the few places of Cambridge where maybe those uses can actually be maintained and maybe even promoted,” Love said.

Besides the quadrangle, there isn’t much space where makerspaces and industrial space can be accommodated and encouraged, Love said.

The plan would slightly reduce the amount of industrial space in the area from the 825,000 square feet currently there, to about 600,000 square feet, Love said.

In addition to keeping some existing businesses, the city also hopes to attract companies in areas such as food manufacturing, beverage manufacturing, fabricated metal product manufacturing, and medical equipment and supplies.

“Cambridge makes sense for a lot of these companies,” Love said.

These companies would also provide good-paying jobs, Love said.

“This kind of space, and the businesses that would fill it, meet that missing gap in the jobs ladder between retail jobs and the kinds of jobs that are now available in Kendall Square,” Love said.

According to Love’s presentation, the project would have minimal impact on traffic in the area.

Councilor calls for bridge to Alewife

Councilor Leland Cheung said he really likes where the preliminary plans are going so far.

“We’ve often talked about Alewife as a potential next Kendall Square … but doing it better this time,” Cheung said. “Making it more affordable, having better connectivity, having more essentials, this plan looks great in that regard.”

Councilor Dennis Carlone said it didn’t make sense how the consultants were projecting increased office space with a small impact on traffic.

“We’re adding, according to what you’ve shown us, 1.8 million square feet of office space, and yet traffic seems to hardly change,” Carlone said. “That just doesn’t make sense to me."

Carlone said he thinks the project needs to add a bridge between the area and the Alewife Red Line station in order to decrease the traffic impact.

“I know we need a shuttle bridge over the railroad tracks to make this area work,” Carlone said. “And we have to devise a way to get, not just a pedestrian bridge, but a shuttle bridge to the T or there’s no way this can work.”

Councilor Nadeem Mazen also said he had concerns about the proposal, most importantly the potential for job growth for the working class and the impact automation will have on it.

“We don’t want to say about the North, or other parts of Cambridge, what we currently say about the Port, that it lives in the shadow of Kendall Square or the shadow of Alewife,” Mazen said. “We want folks to say that they’re being trained into the jobs that they’re suited for, and that they’re excited for, hopeful for."

Although some councilors expressed concerns, DePasquale praised the consultants for forming the project around the wishes and recommendations of the residents.

“They really have listened,” DePasquale said. “I can tell you, over and above this, they get it.”